DMOZ - Arts: Art History: Artists: V: Vermeer, Johannes DMOZ Arts Art History Artists V Vermeer, Johannes 14 Johannes Vermeer was born in 1632, in the city of Delft in The Netherlands. Johannes Vermeer of Delft, also known as Jan Vermeer or Johannes van der Meer, is now considered to be one of the great Dutch masterpainters. However, his work was forgotten after his death in 1675. It was not rediscovered until the late 19th century. Little is known about his life and only 35 of his paintings have been preserved. His relatively short life and career as an artist is seen as another reason for small Vermeer heritage. It is assumed that many of his paintings were lost after his death. The only sources of information are some registers, a few official documents and comments by other artists. Related categories 4 Johannes Vermeer | artble.com Johannes Vermeer View of Delft Johannes Vermeer Vermeer is famed for his technical talents and contribution to the art world during the 17th century.

He was a master of chiaroscuro and realism painting and he drew inspiration from the Italian Baroque era. Vermeer was one of a number of artists from Delft, a small town that made its living from breweries, porcelain and tapestries. This group of artists is often referred to as "the School of Delft" although few of them were actually born there. These artists inspired one another but Vermeer developed his own style that surpassed his peers and allowed him to rank alongside Dutch masters such as Rembrandt and Hals . Vermeer's subject matter was very unique in that he was able to create the most thought-provoking images from the most mundane moments of daily life. His skill and ability made him a leader and revolutionary of the Baroque era. Johannes Vermeer Biography Christ in the House of Martha and Mary Johannes Vermeer Delft was a southern province under Spanish rule and this greatly impacted on the art market. Many artists born in Delft went unknown and wealthier patrons all fled to northern Holland. Thus, artistic content in Delft centered on images of the city, domesticity and local surroundings and most paintings were created in the contexts of Christian morals and values.

Being raised Protestant, Vermeer painted everyday images and his surroundings due to the fact that Protestant Dutch society held the natural aspects of life in high esteem. Vermeer strived to depict the beauty in the most mundane aspects of daily life. He was also a realist and in many of his paintings he depicted black and white tiled floors in houses which was a popular style at the time. In general, the Dutch preferred dark backgrounds with a focused subject in the foreground. Vermeer liked this tradition and played with various light sources as it competed with dark spaces through natural and non-natural lighting. Dutch society also relished in scenes of domesticity that instilled a form of homogeny. Many Delft inhabitants prided themselves on their high standards of education and refinement and had developed a taste for art that reflected such attributes. The Guild of St. Luke: The Guild of St. Luke was largely influenced by Classicism and this shows in Vermeer's works and how he portrays his subject matter, as demonstrated in works such as Diana and Her Companions. Furthermore, the way Vermeer presents his subjects in an idealistic manner from an objective perspective also reinforces the influence of Classicism.

Catholicism in Delft : Due to the fact that Vermeer married a Catholic, he was greatly inspired by Italian masters such as Caravaggio. His mother-in-law, Maria, was an avid collector of many Catholic artist's work from Utrecht. The school of art in Utrecht closely followed Caravaggio 's work and provided inspiration for Delft artists. Vermeer's paintings such as Christ in the house of Martha and Mary and Diana and Her Companions show the artists' affiliation to biblical themes and classic mythological images as well as similarities to the Italian Baroque style. Johannes Vermeer Works This work shows Vermeer's ability to visualize ... Date of Creation1672 Johannes Vermeer | Dutch painter | Britannica.com Johannes Vermeer Pieter de Hooch Johannes Vermeer, Johannes also rendered Jan (baptized October 31, 1632, Delft, the Netherlands—buried December 16, 1675, Delft), Dutch artist who created paintings that are among the most beloved and revered images in the history of art .

Although only about 36 of his paintings survive, these rare works are among the greatest treasures in the world’s finest museums. Vermeer began his career in the early 1650s by painting large-scale biblical and mythological scenes, but most of his later paintings—the ones for which he is most famous—depict scenes of daily life in interior settings. These works are remarkable for their purity of light and form, qualities that convey a serene, timeless sense of dignity. Vermeer also painted cityscapes and allegorical scenes. Early life Delft , where Vermeer was born and spent his artistic career, was an active and prosperous place in the mid-17th century, its wealth based on its thriving Delftware factories, tapestry-weaving ateliers, and breweries. Within Delft’s city walls were picturesque canals and a large market square, which was flanked by the imposing town hall and the soaring steeple of the Nieuwe Kerk (“New Church”). It was also a venerable city with a long and distinguished past.

Delft’s strong fortifications, city walls, and medieval gates had furnished defense for more than three centuries and, during the Dutch revolt against Spanish control, had provided refuge for William I , Prince of Orange, from 1572 until his death in 1584. Vermeer was baptized in the Nieuwe Kerk. His father, Reynier Jansz, was a weaver who produced a fine satin fabric called caffa; he was also active as an art dealer. By 1641 the family was sufficiently prosperous to purchase a large house containing an inn, called the Mechelen, on the market square. Vermeer inherited both the inn and the art-dealing business upon his father’s death in October 1652. By this time, however, Vermeer must have decided that he wanted to pursue a career as a painter. In April 1653 Vermeer married Catherina Bolnes, a young Catholic woman from the so-called Papenhoek, or Papist’s Corner, of Delft. This union led him to convert from the Protestant faith, in which he was raised, to Catholicism.

Later in that decade, Vermeer and his wife moved into the house of the bride’s mother, Maria Thins, who was a distant relative of the Utrecht painter Abraham Bloemaert . Artistic training and early influences Surprisingly little is known about Vermeer’s decision to become a painter. He registered as a master painter in the Delft Guild of Saint Luke on December 29, 1653, but the identity of his master(s), the nature of his training, and the period of his apprenticeship remain a mystery. Britannica Stories Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent Since Vermeer’s name is not mentioned in Delft archival records during the late 1640s or early 1650s, it is possible that, as with many aspiring Dutch artists, he traveled to Italy, France, or Flanders. He also may have trained in some other artistic centre in the Netherlands, perhaps Utrecht or Amsterdam. In Utrecht Vermeer would have met artists who were immersed in the boldly expressive traditions of Caravaggio , among them Gerrit van Honthorst .

In Amsterdam he would have encountered the impact of Rembrandt van Rijn , whose powerful chiaroscuro effects enhanced the psychological intensity of his paintings. Stylistic characteristics of both pictorial traditions—the Utrecht school and that of Rembrandt—are found in Vermeer’s early large-scale biblical and mythological paintings, such as Diana and Her Companions (1655–56) and Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (c. 1655). The most striking assimilation of the two traditions is apparent in Vermeer’s The Procuress (1656). The subject of this scene of mercenary love is derived from a painting by the Utrecht-school artist Dirck van Baburen in the collection of Vermeer’s mother-in-law, while the deep reds and yellows and the strong chiaroscuro effects are reminiscent of Rembrandt’s style of painting. The dimly lit figure at the left of the composition is probably a self-portrait in which Vermeer assumes the guise of the Prodigal Son, a role that Rembrandt had also played in one of his own “merry company” scenes. Art & Architecture: Fact or Fiction?

In the early 1650s Vermeer might also have found much inspiration back within his native Delft, where art was undergoing a rapid transformation. The most important artist in Delft at the time was Leonard Bramer, who produced not only small-scale history paintings—that is, morally edifying depictions of biblical or mythological subjects—but also large murals for the court of the Prince of Orange. Documents indicate that Bramer, who was Catholic, served as a witness for Vermeer at his marriage. Although it would appear that Bramer was, at the very least, an early advocate for the young artist, nowhere is it stated that he was Vermeer’s teacher. Britannica Lists & Quizzes Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Another important painter who Vermeer must have known in Delft during this period was Carel Fabritius , a former Rembrandt pupil. Fabritius’s evocatively pensive images and innovative use of perspective seem to have profoundly influenced Vermeer.

This connection was noted by the poet Arnold Bon, who, in writing about Fabritius’s tragic death in 1654 in the Delft powder-house explosion, noted that “Vermeer masterfully trod in [Fabritius’s] path.” However, while Vermeer was aware of Fabritius’s work, there is also no evidence to suggest that he studied with Fabritius. Whatever the circumstances of his early artistic education, by the second half of the 1650s Vermeer began to depict scenes of daily life. These “genre” paintings are those with which he is most often associated. Gerard Terborch , an artist from Deventer who masterfully rendered texture in his depictions of domestic activities, may well have encouraged Vermeer to pursue scenes of everyday life. Certainly Terborch’s influence is apparent in one of Vermeer’s earliest genre paintings, Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window (c. 1657), in which he created a quiet space for the young woman to read her letter. Unlike the characteristically dark interiors of Terborch, however, Vermeer bathed this remarkably private scene in a radiant light that streams in from an open window.

The painting also reveals Vermeer’s developing interest in illusionism, not only in the inclusion of a yellowish green curtain hanging from a rod stretching across the top of the painting, but also in the subtle reflections of the woman’s face in the open window. Vermeer’s interior scenes during this period were also influenced by the work of Pieter de Hooch , a leading genre painter in Delft at the time. De Hooch was a master of using perspective to create a light-filled interior or courtyard scene in which figures are comfortably situated. Although no documents link Vermeer and de Hooch, it is highly probable that the two artists were in close contact during this period, since the subject matter and style of their paintings during those years were quite similar. Vermeer’s The Little Street (c. 1657–58) is one such work: as with de Hooch’s courtyard scenes, Vermeer has here portrayed a world of domestic tranquillity, where women and children go about their daily lives within the reassuring setting of their homes.

Maturity Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Beginning in the late 1650s and lasting over the course of about one decade—a remarkably brief period of productivity, given the enormity of his reputation—Vermeer would create many of his greatest paintings, most of them interior scenes. No other contemporary Dutch artist created scenes with such luminosity or purity of colour, and no other painter’s work was infused with a comparable sense of timelessness and human dignity. As he reached the height of his abilities, Vermeer became renowned within his native city of Delft and was named the head of the painters’ guild in 1662. Although no commissions for Vermeer’s paintings are known, it does appear that during this and other periods he sold his work primarily to a small group of patrons in Delft. For example, over two decades after Vermeer’s death, no fewer than 21 of his paintings were sold from the estate of Jacob Dissius, a Delft collector. Themes During the height of his career, in paintings depicting women reading or writing letters, playing musical instruments, or adorning themselves with jewelry, Vermeer sought ways to express a sense of inner harmony within everyday life, primarily in the confines of a private chamber.

In paintings such as Young Woman with a Water Pitcher (c. 1664–65), Woman with a Pearl Necklace (c. 1664), and Woman in Blue Reading a Letter (c. 1663–64), he utilized the laws of perspective and the placement of individual objects—chairs, tables, walls, maps, window frames—to create a sense of nature’s underlying order. Vermeer’s carefully chosen objects are never placed randomly; their positions, proportions, colours, and textures work in concert with his figures. Radiant light plays across these images, further binding the elements together. Young Woman with a Water Pitcher, oil painting by Johannes Vermeer, … SuperStock Eyjafjallajökull volcano The emotional power of Vermeer’s magnificent View of Delft (c. 1660–61) similarly results from his ability to transform an image of the physical world into a harmonious, timeless visual expression. In this masterpiece Vermeer depicted Delft from across its harbour, where transport boats would unload after navigating inland waterways.

Beyond the shadowed frieze of Delft’s venerable protective walls and massive gates, bright sunshine illuminates the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk, burial place of the princes of Orange and the city’s symbolic core. Aside from the use of light, the painting’s forcefulness also stems from its large scale and tangible illusion of reality. The buildings take on a physical presence because of Vermeer’s suggestive manner of juxtaposing small dots of unmodulated colours with touches of the brush; he used a similar technique to suggest the reflection of water on the sides of the boats. Although he drew his inspiration from his observations of everyday life in such mature work, Vermeer remained at his core a history painter, seeking to evoke abstract moral and philosophical ideas. This quality is particularly evident in Woman Holding a Balance (c. 1664). In this remarkable image, a woman stands serenely before a table that bears a jewelry box draped with strands of gold and pearls while she waits for her small handheld balance to come to rest.

Although the subdued light entering the room and the refined textures of the jewelry and fur-trimmed jacket are realistically rendered, the painting of the Last Judgment hanging on the rear wall signifies that the artist conceived the scene allegorically. As the woman stands by the jewelry box and Judgment scene, her calm expression indicates a realization: she must maintain balance in her own life by not allowing transient worldly treasures to outweigh lasting spiritual concerns. Woman Holding a Balance, oil on canvas by Johannes Vermeer, c. … Image © 2004 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Widener Collection; photograph, Richard Carafelli Surprisingly little is known of Vermeer’s attitude toward his role as an artist. The philosophical framework for his approach to his craft can perhaps be surmised, however, from another work of this period, The Art of Painting (c. 1665–66). With a large curtain, drawn back as though revealing a tableau vivant, Vermeer announced his allegorical intent for this large and imposing work.

The scene depicts an elegantly dressed artist in the midst of portraying the allegorical figure of Clio , the muse of history, who is recognizable through her attributes: a laurel wreath symbolizing honour and glory, the trumpet of fame, and a large book signifying history. Vermeer juxtaposed Clio and a large wall map of the Netherlands to indicate that the artist, through his awareness of history and his ability to paint elevated subjects, brings fame to his native city and country. This painting was so important to Vermeer that his widow tried to keep it from creditors even when the family was destitute . The Art of Painting, oil painting by Johannes Vermeer, c. … Courtesy of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Working methods Perhaps the most recognizable feature of Vermeer’s greatest paintings is their luminosity. Technical examinations have demonstrated that Vermeer generally applied a gray or ochre ground layer over his canvas or panel support to establish the colour harmonies of his composition. He was keenly aware of the optical effects of colour, and he created translucent effects by applying thin glazes over these ground layers or over the opaque paint layers defining his forms.

His works further seem to be permeated with a sense of light as a result of his use of small dots of unmodulated colour—as in the aforementioned buildings and water of View of Delft, and in foreground objects in other works, such as the crusty bread in The Milkmaid (1658–60) and the finials of the chair in Girl with the Red Hat (1665–66). The diffuse highlights Vermeer achieved are comparable to those seen in a camera obscura , a fascinating optical device that operates much like a box camera. The 17th-century camera obscura created an image by allowing light rays to enter a box through a small opening that was sometimes fitted with a focusing tube and lens. Owing to the device’s limited depth of field, the image it projected would have many unfocused areas surrounded by hazy highlights. Vermeer was apparently fascinated by these optical effects, and he exploited them to give his paintings a greater sense of immediacy. Some have argued that Vermeer used the device to plan his compositions and even that he traced the images projected onto the ground glass at the back of the camera obscura. However, such a working process is most unlikely.

Vermeer instead relied primarily on traditional perspective constructions to create his sense of space. It has been discovered, for example, that small pinholes exist in many of his interior genre scenes at the vanishing point of his perspective system. Strings attached to the pin would have guided him in constructing the orthogonal lines that would have defined the recession of floors, windows, and walls. Vermeer carefully placed this vanishing point to emphasize the main compositional element in the painting. In Woman Holding a Balance, for example, it occurs at the fingertip of the hand holding the balance, thus enhancing his overall philosophical message. Such attention to detail helps explain the small size of Vermeer’s creative output, even during his most fertile period. He must have worked slowly, carefully thinking through the character of his composition and the manner in which he wanted to execute it. Later life and work In 1670 Vermeer was again elected head of the Delft painting guild. Vermeer’s late style is crisper in character, with greater atmospheric clarity than that found in his paintings of the 1660s. The carefully modulated tones and colours he used in those earlier works gave way to a more direct, even bolder technique about 1670.

For example, he used sharply defined planes of colour and angular rhythms to convey a sense of emotional energy in such paintings as Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid (1670) and The Guitar Player (1670). The artist’s fortunes deteriorated drastically toward the end of his life, mainly owing to the disastrous economic climate in Holland following its invasion by French troops in 1672. When Vermeer died in 1675, he left behind a wife, 11 children, and enormous debts. Assessment Vermeer’s fame was not widespread during his lifetime, largely because his paintings were collected by local patrons and because his creative output was small. After his death the paintings continued to be admired by a small group of connoisseurs , primarily in Delft and Amsterdam. By the 19th century a number of Vermeer’s paintings had been attributed to other, more prolific Dutch artists, among them de Hooch. However, when the French painter-critic Théophile Thoré (who wrote under the pseudonym W. Bürger) published his enthusiastic descriptions of Vermeer’s paintings in 1866, passion for the artist’s work reached a broader public.

As private collectors and public museums actively sought to acquire his rare paintings during the early years of the 20th century, prices for his work skyrocketed. This situation encouraged the production of forgeries, the most notorious of which were those painted by Han van Meegeren in the 1930s. At the end of the 20th century Vermeer’s fame continued to rise, fueled in part by an exhibition of his work held in 1995–96 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and at the Mauritshuis in The Hague. The remarkably small oeuvre of the artist has thus only increased in popularity across generations. Vermeer found beneath the accidents of nature a realm infused with harmony and order, and, in giving visual form to that realm, he revealed the poetry existing within transient moments of human existence. He rarely explained the exact meanings of his paintings, preferring instead to allow each viewer to contemplate their significance. As a result, his masterpieces continue to engage fully each contemporary observer, much as they must have engaged their viewers in 17th-century Delft.

Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art Works of Art (6) Essay With Rembrandt and Frans Hals , Vermeer ranks among the most admired of all Dutch artists, but he was much less well known in his own day and remained relatively obscure until the end of the nineteenth century. The main reason for this is that he produced a small number of pictures, perhaps about forty-five (of which thirty-six are known today), primarily for a small circle of patrons in Delft. Indeed, as much as half of Vermeer’s output was acquired by the local collector Pieter van Ruijven. Although Vermeer’s work was known to other connoisseurs in Delft and the neighboring court city of The Hague, and a few of his paintings sold to individuals farther afield (Antwerp and Amsterdam), most Dutch painters turned out hundreds of pictures for a much broader market. Adding to his image as an isolated figure are the fact that Vermeer’s teacher is unknown, and that he evidently had no pupils.

However, the artist was a respected member of the painters’ guild in Delft, and he exchanged pictorial ideas with painters active in that city (especially Pieter de Hooch in the 1650s) and in the region (for example, Frans van Mieris in Leiden). Vermeer’s father trained as a weaver of fine material but by about 1630 had become an innkeeper and art dealer. The latter business may have helped Vermeer develop his remarkable ability to assimilate formal conventions from past and current masters. On the other hand, his father’s debts and death in 1652 probably explain why Vermeer had to essentially train himself rather than study with an important master. In 1653, Vermeer married the daughter of a wealthy Catholic divorcée; the painter converted to their religion and moved into their house in the heart of Delft. During most of his short career—he died at forty-three, leaving his wife with eleven children—Vermeer’s paintings commanded high prices and he was able to support his large family, but the dismal Dutch economy of the early 1670s made his last few years miserable.

In his earliest paintings, Vermeer surveyed the styles of various seventeenth-century artists. For example, in Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (ca. 1655; Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland), he achieved an unlikely mixture of Anthony van Dyck and Hendrick ter Brugghen. The Procuress (1656; Dresden, Gemäldegalerie) recalls Caravaggesque works by the court painter Gerrit van Honthorst, except for the apparent self-portrait which in its handling of light and soft focus resembles a moment caught in a mirror. Similar effects had been achieved in Delft by the short-lived Rembrandt disciple Carel Fabritius (1622–1654), who is often credited with encouraging Vermeer’s later perspective skills. However, Vermeer’s mature interest in naturalistic effects, his carefully balanced compositions, and his domestic subjects derive from numerous sources in Delft and the south Holland area. As the painter worked on a picture, the world of art was constantly tested against direct observation. Vermeer was intensely preoccupied with the behavior of light and other optical effects such as sudden recessions and changes of focus.

These qualities in Vermeer’s work may have been inspired by an interest in the camera obscura (which projects actual images), but its importance to the artist has been greatly exaggerated. His compositions are mostly invented and exhibit the most discriminating formal relationships, including those of color. In addition, Vermeer’s application of paint reveals extraordinary technical ability and time-consuming care. In his best works, these qualities suit the subject matter exceedingly well. Vermeer idealized a domestic world occupied (if not animated) mostly by women, whose postures, behavior, and in some cases expressions suggest close study and sympathy (in this the artist resembles Gerard ter Borch, the Younger, whose work he knew). He often suggests some connection between a figure and the viewer, subtly casting the latter in the role of a spellbound voyeur. A Maid Asleep ( 14.40.611 ) of about 1657 is probably Vermeer’s earliest scene of modern manners, recalling slightly earlier pictures by Nicolaes Maes.

Over the next few years, between works such as The Milkmaid (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum) and Young Woman with a Water Pitcher ( 89.15.21 ), Vermeer developed his mature style, which involved a delicate balance between observation and arbitrary design. The few famous exceptions to his interior scenes include The Little Street (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), A View of Delft ( The Hague, Mauritshuis ), and the late Allegory of the Faith ( 32.100.18 ). A few bust-length studies of figures, like the celebrated Girl with a Pearl Earring ( The Hague, Mauritshuis ), must be based on live models but were not intended as portraits. Such “tronies” (“faces”) were collector’s items, in which intriguing characters, curious costumes, and superb painting combine. Walter Liedtke Department of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art October 2003 Citation Liedtke, Walter. “Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–.

(October 2003) Further Reading Duparc, Frederik J., and Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr. Johannes Vermeer. Exhibition catalogue. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995. Franits, Wayne E. Paragons of Virtue: Women and Domesticity in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Liedtke, Walter. Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007. See on MetPublications Liedtke, Walter. Vermeer: The Complete Paintings. Antwerp: Ludion, 2008. Liedtke, Walter. The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009. See on MetPublications Liedtke, Walter A., et al. Vermeer and the Delft School. Exhibition catalogue. New Haven: Yale University Press; New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. See on MetPublications Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Vermeer and the Art of Painting.

New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995. Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Jan Vermeer. New York: Abrams, 1981. Additional Essays by Walter Liedtke Vermeer Paintings Reproduction and Biography Netherlands,Baroque Vermeer Paintings Reproduction and Biography The life and art of Johannes Vermeer are closely associated with the city of Delft. Vermeer was born in Delft in 1632 and lived there until his death in 1675. His father, Reynier Jansz., was a weaver who produced “caffa,” a fine satin fabric. In 1631 he also registered in the Saint Luke’s Guild in Delft as a master art dealer. By 1641 he was sufficiently prosperous to purchase a large house with an inn, the “Mechelen”, on the market square in Delft, where he probably also sold paintings. When Reynier died in 1652 Johannes Vermeer apparently inherited his father’s business. By that time Vermeer must have already decided on a career as a painter.

It is assumed that Vermeer trained in Delft, perhaps with Leonaert Bramer (1596-1674), who seems to have had close associations with Vermeer’s family, or with Carel Fabritius (1622-1654). No documents, however, exist about Vermeer's artistic training or apprenticeship, and he may have studied elsewhere, perhaps in Utrecht or Amsterdam. Vermeer, who was baptized on 31 October 1632 in the Reformed Church in Delft, was raised a Protestant. In April 1653 Vermeer married into a Catholic family and seems to have converted to Catholicism shortly before that date to placate his future mother-in-law, Maria Thins. Maria Thins lived in the so-called Papists’ Corner ("Papenhoek") of Delft, adjacent to one of the two churches where Catholics could worship, the Jesuit church on the Oude Langendijck. Vermeer and his wife, Catharina Bolnes, eventually moved from the "Mechelen" into her house.

They named their first daughter Maria, in honor of Maria Thins, and their first son Ignatius, after the patron saint of the Jesuit Order. Vermeer became a master in the Saint Luke’s Guild on 29 December 1653. Vermeer's aspiration at that time seems to have been to become a history painter, for Vermeer's first paintings were large-scale mythological and religious paintings. Shortly thereafter Vermeer began to paint the genre scene paintings, landscapes, and allegories for which he has become renowned. While Vermeer’s subject matter changed in the mid-1650s, he nevertheless continued to imbue his later paintings with the quiet, intimate moods of his early history paintings. Although very little is known about relationships with other painters who might have influenced the thematic and stylistic direction of his art, Vermeer apparently knew Gerard ter Borch II, with whom he co-signed a document in 1653. Another artist who may well have had an impact on Vermeer paintings during the 1650s was Pieter de Hooch, who painted comparable scenes in Delft during that period. Vermeer remained a respected artist in Delft throughout the rest of his life.

Vermeer was named hoofdman of the Delft St. Luke’s Guild in 1662, 1663, 1670, and 1671. Vermeer’s few paintings--they number only about thirty-five--were not well known outside of Delft, perhaps because many of these paintings were concentrated in the collection of a patron in Delft who seems to have had a special relationship with Vermeer. When Vermeer died, however, he was heavily in debt, in part because his art dealing business had suffered during the difficult economic times following the French invasion of the Netherlands in the early 1670s. Vermeer was survived by his wife Catharina and eleven children, eight of whom were underage. Vermeer's wife petitioned for bankruptcy the following year. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the famed Delft microscopist who was apparently a friend of Vermeer, was named trustee for the estate.

Johannes Vermeer Biography (1632-1675) – Life of Dutch Artist View Complete Works Johannes Vermeer van Delft is considered to be the most famous Dutch artists of the Golden Age, second only to Rembrandt. His life was not long, since he died at age 43 and only left around 34 paintings that have been verified as truly his own. His work continues to mesmerize the world today. He did not truly become famous until he was recognized in the 19th century by Gustav Friedrich and a fellow French art critic, and they first believed that up to 66 paintings had been created by Vermeer. Johannes Vermeer’s life was characterized by many hardships and a rich family life. Growing up in Delft, he was largely influenced by his father, who was a middle-class worker in the silk industry. His father became an art dealer, and after his death, Johannes inherited the family art dealing business from his father when he was only 20 years old. In less than a year after leading this art dealership, he married Catharina Bolenes, who was a Catholic.

He also converted to Catholicism just before their wedding, and he enjoyed financial support from his new mother-in-law. Shortly after marriage, the couple moved into the large home of Catharina’s mother, where Johannes would continue to paint for the rest of his life. His wife gave birth to a total of 14 children altogether, and unfortunately four of those children died very young, even before being able to be baptized in the Catholic custom. It is a topic of great speculation as to who Johannes actually studied painting with. Many believe he may have been self-taught entirely. There are some who believe another Catholic man named Abraham Bloemaert may have tutored him, but there is little evidence and records from Johannes Vermeer’s life that can justify any claims of the source of his artistic influence, which remains largely a mystery. The Professional Life and Struggles What has been well documented is the entry of Johannes into an artist’s trade association called the Guild of St. Luke when he was 21 years old.

During this time the plague was spreading throughout Europe and the Netherlands where he lived, and although most members of this artist’s guild would normally pay a membership fee, Johannes had apparently been exempted from this charge, probably due to the common financial hardships of the time and his talent. Around this time, he met a patron who loved and bought most of his artwork. The patron was Pieter van Ruijven, whose financial support was critical to Vermeer and his family. As Vermeer matured in his artwork, he was elected head of the St. Luke’s Guild four times, beginning at age 30. His artwork gained attention within Delft, but did not spread much beyond the city. During 1672 in the Netherlands, there was a severe economic collapse due to the French invasion and the Franco-Dutch war. Due to these events, among other things, Vermeer was forced to borrow money from sources in Amsterdam in the last year of his life. He was clearly struggling to support himself and his large family, and died from frenzy, an old medical term no longer used today which included symptoms such as high fever and sometimes hallucinations.

His wife suggested it had been caused by the tremendous financial pressures, and she was able to use his artwork to help the family pay off some of its debts and was able to appeal to the courts for other debts to be forgiven. Famous Artworks The Girl With The Pearl Earring The Milkmaid The Girl With the Wineglass The Astronomer Johannes Vermeer Biography | artble.com Johannes Vermeer Biography Johannes Vermeer Vermeer was a realist painter who focused on chiaroscuro and became a master in using this technique. The artist delighted in the technicalities of the camera obscura that had emerged in Dutch markets at this time and was an avid fan of using various lens and glass contraptions to discover new forms of capturing light in various contexts. There is little information about Vermeer's personal life. He seems to have devoted his time to his work and never left his hometown of Delft. The mystery surrounding Vermeer led to Thoré Bürger naming him "The Sphinx of Delft".

Johannes Vermeer Early Years Diana and Her Companions Johannes Vermeer Johannes Vermeer was born to Reijnier Janszoon and Digna Baltens, middle-class innkeepers and prominent silk weavers in the city of Delft. His father later changed his surname to Vermeer but the reason for this remains unknown. Vermeer's father was a member of the Guild of St. Luke where he traded and sold various paintings. It was from this profession that a young Vermeer learned all about art. Johannes Vermeer was the only son in the family and had just one sibling. He was raised Protestant in a largely conservative Catholic province and later became part of the Guild of St. Luke. It is believed that he apprenticed under Leonart Bramer but no evidence can conclude that he had an influence on Vermeer's works. Other art historians propose that Vermeer served under Carel Fabritius but again, evidence to prove this is lacking. Some scholars claim that Vermeer was in fact, taught by the Catholic painter Abraham Bloemaert. In Vermeer 's early career he focused on producing history paintings, creating scenes from the Bible and classical mythology.

Seventeenth-century academic theory reports that this was the highest form of painting because a history painter had to use their imagination when creating these works. However, other subjects appealed more to Vermeer and later on he chose to paint everyday life scenes instead which were probably also popular at that time. Johannes Vermeer Middle Years

Question: In which city was the artist Vermeer born in 1632? It features in many of his paintings.
Answer: Delft